Untitled Document
Timeline
Ryerson has built its reputation on educating students to meet the needs of society. Please click on one of the following sections to begin exploring.
| 1850 |
Egerton Ryerson buys land at Victoria and Gould for province's first school for teachers |
 |
| 1941 |
The Normal School is used as a training facility for the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War |
| 1945 |
The Training and Re-establishment Institute opens to train ex-service personnel |
| 1948 |
The Ryerson Institute of Technology is founded and named after Egerton Ryerson |
 |
| |
The Ryersonian is launched |
| 1949 |
Electronics students broadcast "This is Fashion," the first live television show in Canada for a general audience |
 |
| 1950 |
First Blue and Gold dance |
 |
| 1953 |
Ryerson musical Brigadoon plays Dec. 2–4 |
| 1954 |
Yonge Street subway line opens; College and Dundas stations straddle Ryerson campus |
| |
Principal Howard Kerr introduces a shirt-and-tie dress code for men |
| 1958 |
Football team wins Intermediate Intercollegiate Ontario-Quebec Conference championship |
 |
| 1960 |
First annual Ryerson picnic in September on the Islands |
 |
| |
Sam the Record Man opens for business on Yonge Street, adjacent to campus |
| 1963 |
Name changes to Ryerson Polytechnical Institute |
| |
Kerr Hall opens. Shown is an early construction phase |
 |
| 1967 |
The Eyeopener is launched |
 |
| 1968 |
Ryerson begins participating in Shinerama fundraising campaign |
 |
| 1971 |
Open College on CJRT begins, offering educational courses over the radio, another innovative attempt to reach out to the community |
| 1972 |
First degrees. Honorary recipient Ontario Premier Bill Davis is pictured in front, third from the left |
 |
| |
David Crombie, previously Ryerson’s Director of Student Services, becomes Mayor of Toronto |
| 1978 |
More than 1,300 Ryerson students go to Queen's Park to protest government cutbacks to post-secondary institutions |
 |
| |
Lake Devo opens for the benefit of the campus and the community |
 |
| 1979 |
Ryerson Fitness Trail, aka Vita Parcours, opens |
| 1985 |
Eric McCormack, future star of Will and Grace, completes his Theatre School education |
 |
| 1987 |
Recreation and Athletics Centre (RAC) opens |
| |
First-year O'Keefe House residents dress up as Smurfs for orientation parade |
| 1988 |
Ryerson students march up Yonge St. to Queen's Park rally protesting high tuition and government underfunding of post-secondary institutions |
 |
| 1990 |
Engineering students hang a Volkswagen Beetle chassis by a cable from the Victoria St. parking garage wall |
 |
| 1991 |
Pitman Hall, the first major co-ed residence, opens |
| 1992 |
Canadian astronaut Roberta Bondar visits Ryerson after her space mission aboard Discovery |
 |
| |
Six Engineering programs earn full professional accreditation |
| 1993 |
Ryerson is granted full university status by the Ontario government, opening the door for graduate programs and funded research |
| 1996 |
Shaving cream plays major role in orientation parade and picnic |
 |
| 1998 |
Dressed as the Gateway Arch of St. Louis, third-year Architecture students present a skit during the annual grand review |
 |
| 2000 |
Ryerson launches first graduate programs |
| 2001 |
Nelson Mandela and wife Graça Machel receive Ryerson honorary degrees |
 |
| 2002 |
Name changes to Ryerson University |
| |
Filmed on campus and starring Theatre alumna Nia Vardalos, My Big Fat Greek Wedding is released |
| 2003 |
First doctoral students admitted |
| 2006 |
Ryerson introduces first MBA programs |
| 2008 |
Sam the Record Man property acquired by Ryerson for future Student Learning Centre |
 |
| |
Faculty research tops $19 million |
| 2010 |
Digital Media Zone opens at Yonge-Dundas Square |
